High School Scrapbook: Shayne Culpepper

On why track runners can benefit from cross-country

Published

July 1, 2004

If you consider yourself a pure middle-distance track runner, then you might view cross country like cauliflower—not very appealing, but good for you. That’s the outlook of Shayne Culpepper, a 2000 Olympian at 1500m, and third in this year’s Indoor World Championships 3,000m. "I really don’t like cross country, but I know running it makes me a better track runner," she says. Not liking cross country doesn’t mean you can’t be successful at it, however; Culpepper has made several U.S. squads for the 4K race at the World Cross Country Championships, which is often the sport at its muddiest extreme.

Particularly irksome to trackies like Culpepper is finishing behind those natural harrier types who get left half a lap behind on the synthetic oval. "You have to keep telling yourself ‘wait until I get them on the track,’" she says, when it will be time enough for payback.

Besides building strength for the next track season, Culpepper also feels cross country provides a physical change of gears and a mental break. "Time is pretty irrelevant, so you can just focus on place," she says. And if you view XC as secondary to track, "there’ll be less pressure, too."